Warning China Foreign TEFL Teachers - Probationary Period Scams Are Illegal

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Tiger
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Warning China Foreign TEFL Teachers - Probationary Period Scams Are Illegal

Unread post by Tiger »

Yesterday I attended a Zoom Seminar given by the China Teachers Alliance which included a 15 minute lecture by Scott of the China Scam Patrol who opened our eyes about a devious scheme that many school use to cheat out out of half our pay for the first "90 day/180 day probationary period". As you may have found out by surprise on payday, or it may have even been included in your contract. CHINESE LABOR LAW makes it illegal for you to have more than a 30 day probationary period for every 1 years of your contract. BUT, if you agree to something more in your contract you are screwed unless you are willing to make a complaint with the ministry of Labor. If you let this slide you will be giving up around $10,000 of pay or even more, depending where you are working. You can get a copy of Chinese Labor Laws in English from the CFTU and in Chinese from the CTA by email.
I suggest every TEFL teacher take a visit to https://reddit.com/r/TEFLscams BEFORE they send off their resumes.
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Blue Moon
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Re: Warning China Foreign TEFL Teachers - Probationary Period Scams Are Illegal

Unread post by Blue Moon »

Yep. Both my roomie and myself were victims of this sneaky scheme. Lisa lost 50% of her salary for 6 months ($8,500) at Best Learning and I lost even more. When you consider that we have 7 foreign teachers at my school you can see how they exploit expat teachers in China. BTW... All the China labor laws are in English at https://reddit.com/r/cftu

Make sure your contract specifies if you have a probationary period or not and if it does make sure you write in "one month probationary period". This is a shitty way to lose half of your pay.
Watch your step in China. There is a pile of shit waiting for your foot around every corner that only laowai seem to step in. See https://reddit.com/r/workabroadfraud.
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Vagabond
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Re: Warning China Foreign TEFL Teachers - Probationary Period Scams Are Illegal

Unread post by Vagabond »

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This is a VERY common scam in China. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. It may seem like a little thing, but when you do the math, you are giving up 25% to 50% of your salary!
Before taking any teaching job in China make a quick visit over to https://reddit.com/r/ChinaScamCentral and https://reddit.com/r/TEFLreviews so your dream job does not become a nightmare.
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Vagabond
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Posts: 124
Joined: 06 Nov 2020, 20:22
Status: Teacher Trainer

Re: Warning China Foreign TEFL Teachers - Probationary Period Scams Are Illegal

Unread post by Vagabond »

2022 UPDATE: This scam is still alive and well - so BEWARE colleagues!
Before taking any teaching job in China make a quick visit over to https://reddit.com/r/ChinaScamCentral and https://reddit.com/r/TEFLreviews so your dream job does not become a nightmare.
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